[Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship

[HENRY SHONERD]

Huw,
There is a clarity in what you say that I don’t usually get in reading posts on the chat. Perhaps its the morning walk that I just took on a day after I had one of my usual late-in-life nadirs. I am feeling better today. Most posts on the subject line seem to be addressing problems of those that are trying to get started in academia, but I think it applies to any stage of development. Your post makes that clear to me. Thank you for that.
Henry



 
> On Feb 20, 2018, at 1:57 PM, Huw Lloyd <huw.softdesigns@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Well, I would say there is more to it than simply transfer-ability, which
> might be thought of as a good bureaucratic requirement. Really what is
> required is genuine development -- reorganisation of thought and learning.
> That is what is significant at a personal level, which is also the basis of
> insights and creative work (i.e. personal knowledge rather than second hand
> knowledge). The researcher in the blog article does not evince this (with
> allusions to the nature of her training). There is the history school
> children learn, which largely concerns the use of memory, and then there is
> the history of conditions, relations and processes, which concerns
> protracted thought. This developmental emphasis is what is lacking in
> institutions which is why I have frequently pointed it out.
> 
> This principle apples to "secure" jobs too. The jobs I have walked away
> from have been due to the overly narrow scope, where I felt it was
> necessary to be far more ambitious to achieve modest satisfaction, an
> ambition which included achieving the wider scope within the norms
> established. Similar issues pertain to my peripheral engagement with
> academia. Twenty years ago, after completing a masters in cognitive science
> (a good year), I decided against pursuing any further formal education with
> any immediacy due to my sense that what I was encountering in the subject
> (and related subjects) was fundamentally wrong or inadequate, but I
> couldn't quite discern what that was. So, for me, I had no interest in
> furthering the academic course at the time, because I was concerned with
> understanding, doing, discovering and development, not being a "good
> researcher". I was and am uninterested in the trappings of academia, what
> it looks like from the outside (with dubious ethics of promoting those in
> society who least need it) -- hence I am not too bothered about where the
> experiences come from. After all, if you want sound knowledge then it
> should be validated in places where it counts (in action), not in an echo
> chamber of words.
> 
>> From my (developmental) perspective academia appears to be chockfull of
> unproductive thinking. The lack of systems understanding in the social
> sciences (which has been pointed out by key persons for two generations) I
> find to be quite incredible. This, as far as I can see, is the panacea to
> the stasis and lethargy that I have seen in certain institutions, where
> there are people in secure jobs with no interest in revitalising an
> institution (perhaps the same people who rely upon their status for
> authority). In the UK, in the social sciences, the whole social science
> infrastructure is built upon a notion of quality that is ignorant of
> systems -- that is the degree to which unproductive thinking has penetrated
> social science.
> 
> Yet there is much more to it still. Recently I have also come to a
> surprising awareness that developmental prerogatives have rather a
> significant amount in common with spiritual ones. So I would offer broader
> advice than Michael's of staying clear of hardship. It may be that in that
> "nadir" something surprising may be discovered. For anyone with a passion
> "job security" is not a goal, at best it is a means to an ends, at worst it
> is an obstacle.
> 
> Over and out. :)
> 
> Best,
> Huw
> 
> On 20 February 2018 at 07:12, Alfredo Jornet Gil <a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>
> wrote:
> 
>> Huw, Helena, and all,
>> 
>> thanks to you both for taking the discussion where I was hoping it to go
>> further: first, towards a reflection on the nature of training academic
>> scholars go through as it concerns the classical problem of learning
>> "transfer"; and then, as it regards the question of academic freedom (which
>> actually may be the same question, just taken in a language more adequate
>> to an ecological understanding of the problem). This is absolutely not just
>> an individual problem. And, on that matter, I should be clear that I am a
>> privileged in a privileged land, where, despite all uncertainty and pains
>> that my family have gone and go through, I have today a good background and
>> network, and probably better prospects than the majority of junior scholars
>> out there. Not that I have earned this privilege for nothing: my migrant
>> history and that of my family is all connected to an effort and quest to
>> get better chances of academic opportunity in this market Helena talks
>> about. But my personal story, as that of the historian in the article
>> shared or of my French astronomer friend, are relevant in as far as they
>> help us reflect on just those questions. They really also make one wonder
>> on the sense of the term "academic freedom", for the latter term cannot be
>> about doing whatever research you want to do independently of some market
>> conditions and societal needs and economy. We may then pose the questions,
>> what type of "freedom" is the "freedom" current systems (of incentives, of
>> ISI lists) afford, and what type of system could allow for another meaning
>> of the term "freedom"?
>> 
>> Not to get too abstract, I guess that those reflections may be best
>> pondered along concrete cases, if people is willing to take on Helena's
>> suggestion to share particular stories of all that goes into getting into
>> secured academic job positions, or else, of pursuing (in)dependent careers
>> outside/at the borders of/across academia.
>> 
>> Alfredo
>> 
>> 
>> ________________________________________
>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu>
>> on behalf of Helena Worthen <helenaworthen@gmail.com>
>> Sent: 19 February 2018 19:19
>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship
>> 
>> In the interests of widening the discussion:
>> 
>> I’ve described my work history before on this list — basically, moving
>> from teaching literature and writing (with stopovers in landscape
>> architecture and theater production) to concern about the working
>> conditions of teachers, especially academics in higher education, the 75%
>> who are contingent/adjuncts. The concern is both for the people employed
>> this way and for the integrity of the institutions that employ them. I
>> eventually engaged this concern by working with and for the labor movement,
>> ending up first working for the garment/apparel workers union in
>> Philadelphia and then at the Labor Educaiton Program at the U of Illinois,
>> from which I retired in 2010.
>> 
>> The new twist to this story is about the employment of academics on
>> short-term contracts in Viet Nam, under conditions that seem to be
>> increasingly frequent in the “developing” world, where the market for
>> education is booming. University World News http://www.
>> universityworldnews.com/  tracks this phenomenon and includes occasinal
>> critical articles about the competition for rankings. The university where
>> my husband and I have been teaching on and off since 2015, Ton Duc Thang in
>> Ho Chi Minh City, recruits professors from all over the world with a
>> promise of $2,000 per month US — but extending their contracts depends on
>> producing articles published in journals on the ISI list; the nature of
>> this list is worth taking a look at. The impact of this practice on the
>> culture and student body is not all bad.
>> 
>> My point here is to place the issue of the challenge of getting a
>> tenure-track job in a global context. This is not just an individual
>> problem.
>> 
>> I’m willing to go further down this line of discussion. However, academics
>> are often reluctant to reveal and compare their working conditions on an
>> “academic” discussion list. Maybe by putting up the issue of what academic
>> freedom requires, and how these requirements fare in the global market for
>> higher education, we can shed the embarassment of revealing information
>> about our own experiences with getting the brass ring of a full-time,
>> secure job.
>> 
>> Let’s see if anyone picks up on this. Maybe I’m being too vague.
>> 
>> Helena Worthen
>> helenaworthen@gmail.com
>> Berkeley, CA 94707 510-828-2745
>> Blog US/ Viet Nam:
>> helenaworthen.wordpress.com
>> skype: helena.worthen1
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Feb 19, 2018, at 9:19 AM, Huw Lloyd <huw.softdesigns@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> The article describes accumulating large amounts of knowledge pertaining
>> to
>>> history, which (the author maintains) cannot be turned to other
>> endeavours.
>>> This, no doubt, is true for her. If, however, her approach to studying
>>> history had been systemic, then there would have been a powerful form of
>>> re-application and continuity in any work that was turned to. Perhaps the
>>> same can be said for "phd/postdoc training". If it cannot be reused or
>>> isn't enabling, what, substantively, is it?
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> Huw
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 18 February 2018 at 18:32, Alfredo Jornet Gil <a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Really inspiring words and work, Francine. I do see community colleges
>> and
>>>> many other educational settings apart from universities as really
>> valuable
>>>> and exciting opportunities; the PhD and following postdoc etc training
>> in
>>>> universities, however, tend to be very much targeted towards a very
>> narrow
>>>> spectrum of positions, or at least that's been my experience. I am very
>>>> happy that this thread may widen that scope and make visible other
>> paths.
>>>> And as Mike suggested, it would be very interesting to hear from several
>>>> others who have followed distinct trajectories apart from the
>>>> phd-postdoc-assist/assoc. prof-prof, and yet made a career in touch with
>>>> most of what was developed in the junior (phd and few later) years.
>>>> Thanks!
>>>> Alfredo
>>>> ________________________________________
>>>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu>
>>>> on behalf of Larry Smolucha <lsmolucha@hotmail.com>
>>>> Sent: 18 February 2018 06:20
>>>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>>>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship
>>>> 
>>>> Message from Francine Smolucha on a scholar's life with or without
>> academia
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Alfredo,
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> There are other jobs that pay well (sometimes with tenure and early
>>>> retirement benefits) - besides professorships at four year colleges and
>>>> universities.  Administrative and support staff positions pay well. And
>>>> don't overlook community colleges, technical colleges, and public grade
>>>> schools and high schools. There is also the private sector and
>> government
>>>> jobs.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> As a 'low status' community college professor, I managed to translate
>>>> Vygotsky's
>>>> 
>>>> overlooked writings on creativity (back in the 1980's) and introduced
>> his
>>>> theory of creativity to academia.  I got early retirement at age 53 and
>>>> continue to write and publish. While my Ph.D from the University of
>> Chicago
>>>> gave me academic bona fides, it was the quality of the scholarly work
>> that
>>>> ultimately mattered.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> I was always inspired by the harsh circumstances of Vygotsky's life and
>>>> how he still kept on writing.
>>>> 
>>>> [When I felt really sorry for myself, I would actually say "Well at
>> least
>>>> I am not coughing up blood"]
>>>> 
>>>> So many of his works were not published in his lifetime, he did not
>>>> collect a royalties check, and    they say he was depressed at the end
>> of
>>>> his life.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> I leave you with this quote from an ancient Sufi mystic -
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> You can't always get what you want but you can get what you need
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> .
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> ________________________________
>>>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu>
>>>> on behalf of mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu>
>>>> Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2018 7:07 PM
>>>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>>>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship
>>>> 
>>>> Yours is a quandary shared by your generation, Alfredo.
>>>> Being allowed to teach and conduct research in a quality institution is
>> a
>>>> great privilege and an
>>>> increasingly rarer possibility.
>>>> 
>>>> There are several people on this list who have organized their lives to
>> be
>>>> independent scholars
>>>> while staying connected to the core institutions of disciplinary
>> training.
>>>> It might be nice to hear
>>>> the variety out there.
>>>> 
>>>> It appears pretty certain that the situation is going to get worse
>>>> before/if it gets better.
>>>> 
>>>> What can the collective experience of xmca come up with that would be
>>>> useful to the many
>>>> of you caught in this meat grinder?
>>>> 
>>>> mike
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Sat, Feb 17, 2018 at 4:49 PM, Alfredo Jornet Gil <
>> a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Good luck then, Wagner!
>>>>> A
>>>>> ________________________________________
>>>>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu
>>> 
>>>>> on behalf of Wagner Luiz Schmit <wagner.schmit@gmail.com>
>>>>> Sent: 18 February 2018 01:07
>>>>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture Activity
>>>>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship
>>>>> 
>>>>> This just hit me in the spot...
>>>>> 
>>>>> Wagner
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Feb 17, 2018 9:48 PM, "Alfredo Jornet Gil" <a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> I have not been able to contribute to this list as much as I'd like to
>>>>>> lately, among other things, because I need to find a job, and I need
>> to
>>>>>> make sure that I have checked all those boxes that selection
>> committees
>>>>>> will check (enough first-authored publications? in good enough
>>>> journals?
>>>>>> enough leadership in projects? teaching? supervising? acquiring funds?
>>>>> more
>>>>>> than all others candidates? and more than favoured-for-whatever-other-
>>>>> reasons
>>>>>> candidates?). So I have been doing all I can these weeks to fill up a
>>>>>> competitive CV, for my contract is about to expire.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> And, although I did not think that it was particularly well written,
>> it
>>>>>> was both relieving and discouraging to read this article (see link
>>>> below,
>>>>>> which I take from the facebook wall of a colleague who I think also
>>>>>> subscribes this list). The article makes visible the pain scholars go
>>>>>> through when, after so many years of digging and digging and digging a
>>>>>> little (but deep!) hole, may after all have to leave it and find some
>>>>> other
>>>>>> thing to do. In Canada, I met a French astronomer who was moving
>>>> through
>>>>>> the world with his lovely family, short-term project after short-term
>>>>>> project, getting better and better at what he worked on (apparently he
>>>>> was
>>>>>> among the few who had expertise in computer modeling simulating some
>>>>>> astronomic events) , and finally having to step out academia last year
>>>> to
>>>>>> find something else to do, for his family no longer could stand the
>>>>>> constant uncertainty and travelling. It could be me soon. And that may
>>>>> not
>>>>>> be a bad thing, or even a thing in itself, but the story seems to be
>>>>> quite
>>>>>> endemic to academia and may be interesting to some of you:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-Everybody-Loses-When/242560
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Alfredo
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>> 
>>